Toph Bei Fong is a blind earth bender who joins Aang's group to teach him earth bending. Even without the ability to use her eyes she is still a powerful earth bender.

Origin

Toph is a member of the Earth Kingdom, born into the wealthy Bei Fong family who live in the town Gaoling. However, Toph was born blind and so her parents became over-protective. They thought that she was weak and vulnerable because she was blind, however that just simply was not the case. They did not want Toph to be in any danger and so they kept her at the beginners stage of earth bending for a very long time. This angered Toph, and so she ran away, and it is when she ran away, when she stumbled across the blind Badger Moles in a cave. Toph imitated their styles and became a real master at earth-bending, to the point were she could see with her feet, this made up for her eyes.

Toph decided to keep her abilities hidden from her parents, and used to regularly sneak to an underground earth bending tournament, where she was known as the Blind Bandit, where she was unbeatable, winning forty-two matches and losing none, she won the title.

Creation

Toph Bei Fong was created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino for the series Avatar: The Last Airbender in the Avatar franchise. Originally, Toph was meant to be a male earth bender but was changed into the character she is today. Like with Katata in Book One, Toph is meant to be the master to teach Aang in Book Two. She is first seen in a vision Aang has in Episode 24:The Swamp but makes her first appearance in Episode 26: The Blind Bandit. She is voiced by Jessie Flower in the English version, and the Japanese edition is voiced by Azuma Sakamoto.

Character Evolution

Toph has a very interesting personality, she is very different to the others, she has no manners, but that is because she does not like to use them, she actually can be very formal if she wishes, this is partly due to her posh background. However, Toph is a tomboy, she is not interested in her looks, due to the fact that she is blind, although she does have a girly side,as she is happy when Katara tells her that she is pretty. Toph is very rough around the edges, she can be very sarcastic, and this is used as humor and almost always links to her being blind, e.g. Toph says that Sokka's picture looks nice even though she can not see it.

Toph is very violent and has a temper, she has had a fight with Katara, and was very hard on Aang when training him. Toph has a sense of humor, and an example of this is when she pretended to be a bad guy, she was starting to get into her role, showing that she likes acting.She is very honest, and sometimes it is very harsh, she has a kind of spoilt attitude, but is very loving, and she missed her parents. As time goes on, despite keeping her surly attitude, she warms up to each of the members of the group as she feels like they are a part of her family too.

Major Story Arcs

Book Two: Earth

When Aang leaves the North Pole, he attempts to et the Earth King Bumi to teach him earth bending but was captured by the Fire Nation. He is told to find a master who listens and waits for the moment. While in a Swamp, he sees a vision of a girl in white as well as a flying boar. When the group goes to Gaoling to find a master, they discover instead a Fight Club for earth benders as they see Toph under the alias The Blind Bandit. Aang recognizes her from his vision as she does indeed listen and wait. They discover where she lives but not before she and Aang are captured by earth bender fighters who want to ransom the two off. Toph is able to demonstrate to her father that she is a capable fighter at a young age but he refuses to listen. As a result, Toph runs away from home to join Aang.

Things don't start too well as Toph tries to be her own independent person from the group, refusing to help out with the simplest of tasks. Butting heads with Katara constantly and being chased all night by Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai, she attempts to leave but is confronted by Iroh. Iroh advises her that depending on other people isn't a sign of weakness as he convinces her to go back. After making amends, Toph teaches Aang the art of earth bending. However, since air and earth are two different elements, as well as Toph says being an earth bender is about being "stubborn", Aang has difficulties learning it off the bat. However, he is able to pick up the skills when fighting a moose to rescue Sokka who had fallen down a ravine. When the group discovers the ancient Library of the Spirits, Toph elects to stay with Appa as she attempts to keep the Library above ground when teh spirits attempt to sink it. As a result, Appa is captured by sand benders as Toph is blamed for his loss.

The group attempts to get to Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom as they have obtained knowledge of an impending solar eclipse, which would render the Fire Nation's abilities inert for a while and give an opportunity to strike. When they are denied passage on a ferry, Toph is able to show her connections to the Bei Fong family which gain her access. Despite having tickets for the ferry, Aang chooses to help a couple across the dangerous Serpant's Pass as their tickets were stolen. Toph goes along but realizes she must cross an ice bridge made by Katara in order to get there; something she hates since she can't swim and can't use her sensory abilities on ice, literally walking blind. After nearly drowning, she is rescued by Suki as they get to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se only to encounter a giant drill crafted by the Fire Nation to penetrate the walls. Toph is able to lead the group underground to penetrate the hull, working to block up sludge with Katara (a combination of earth and water) to cause the drill to malfunction.

When in Ba Sing Se, they discover that the city has no idea a war is going on as the secret police, the Dai Li, have control over affairs as their leader Long Feng, urges the group to mind their own business. They decide to search for Appa in the meanwhile as they find an underground cavern under Lake Laogai thanks to Toph as they witness the Dai Li kidnapping and brainwashing its citizens. After they find Appa, who was released by Zuko, they decide to launch an attack on the Earth King's palace to inform him of the corruption and the war. After fighting off the Dai Li, they encounter the King and Long Feng. Aang explains he is the Avatar and that Long Fend has been manipulating him. Showing him evidence of the Fire Nation drill, the King is convinced and has Fend imprisoned. As this occurs, Toph receives a letter from home as her parents miss her and wish to see her once more. Parting ways, she attempts to go back but is captured by the ring leader of the earth bender fighters and her old earth bending master, having been paid off to bring her home. In a metal cage, Toph is able to use her sensory abilities to realize metal is simply manipulated earth, melted down with bits of earth still in it as she discovers how to metal bend. Rushing back to Ba Sing Se, Toph is able to free Sokka and the King as Azula and her group have taken over. Finding Aang, critically injured, she uses her earth bending to escape the Dai Li while help from Iroh.

Book Three: Fire

When Aang awakens from his injuries, Toph is able to sense an impending attack by a Fire Nation troop as she coordinates the attack to sink the ship. She and the others comfort Aang, convincing him to go into hiding for a while until Black Sun, seeing that the Fire Nation is convinced he is dead. After stealing some clothes, Toph remains incognito with the group but does what she can to help out such as saving a river town from their abusive leader or helping to stop a wild fire caused by a meteorite. However, her rude tactics come back to match her as she is able to start a ring of cons to rob Fire Nation members of their money such as feigning illnesses, cheating cheaters at their own game, and other schemes. Katara confronts her about this as Toph pushes her away. She does reveal to Sokka that Katara cares more for her than her own mother did, something she overhears as they work together to pull a ruse that ends up blowing up in their faces. They work together to free themselves and the group before escaping.

Before Black Sun, Aang goes through a nervous breakdown as Toph tries her best to get him to relax. Instead, it backfires as it takes the whole group enough effort to calm him down. As Black Sun comes, Toph is put in charge of the earth benders who arrived to help, encountering the eartn bender fighters Hippo and the Boulder as the vow to work with her. Despite getting sea sick in the submarine, Toph is able to fight on the beach of the Fire Nation capital, launching earth attacks with tanks at the Fire Army. When Aang comes back from the empty Capital, Sokka figures out that they found out about the attack as Toph senses an underground cavern. Leading Sokka and Aang through it, they find Azula who goads them into wasting time as Toph is able to use metal bending to fend off the Dai Li. When the Black Sun is over, it is a failure as the younger fighters are urged to flee while the adults stay to fight and probably be captured.

They head to the Western Air Temple where Toph is able to sense the structure on the underside of the cliff as she, Katara, and Sokka confront Aang about his final element, fire; a subject he has tried to avoid for some time. When Zuko arrives, attempting to turn over a new leaf, Toph is the only one to believe him as she can tell he's not lying. After being shunned, she tries to talk with him but sneaks up on him, causing him to firebend and burn her feet. When she gets back, she tries to explain that it was an accident of sorts but they don't believe her. However, when Combustion Man shows up, Zuko manages to defeat him and earn the trust of the group as Aang's Firebending Master as Toph reveals in how she'll get pay back for what happened to her. In the final days before Sozin's Comet, Toph comforts Zuko who feels ashamed for betraying Iroh as she knows what kind of man Iroh is and he wouldn't feel something like that.

As Sozin's Comet nears the planet, Aang goes missing as Toph vows to search with Zuko in hopes of having a "moment" with him. When the search turns fruitless, Zuko recruits a tracker he met a while ago to help find Iroh who is with the White Lotus. There, the plan is to let Aang fight Ozai as they would split up, Sokka, Toph, and Suki going to the zeppelins to break their formation to prevent them from burning the planet. Sokka is able to use his tactical skills while Toph uses metalbending to destroy several zeppelins before being attacked by soldiers. Sokka tries to protect Toph but breaks his leg as he keeps her from falling off a platform. It seems like the end before Suki comes back to save them, witnessing Ozai's defeat as they goad the so called Phoenix King. After the celebration and the declaration of peace from Zuko, the group go back to their Earth Kingdom home to relax as Toph mocks Sokka once more for his art abilities.

Relationships

Parents

She loves her parents, but wants them not to be over-protective, she wanted her parents to treat her like a normal child, and even though she had contemplated running away, she loves her parents.

At first, she hated Aang because he ended her unbeaten record, she was annoyed, but as she spent more time with Aang, she gradually liked him more and more, she was very hard on him during training, but is a good friend, it was nothing personal, she is just impatient, and so although she liked Aang, she was not initially teacher material.

Toph and Katara argue all of the time, it is as if they were sister, they have clashing personalities, have had a fight, but at the end of the day are still great friends, Katara brings out Toph's girly side, and Toph trusts Katara with her secrets, and so they are very close friends.

Sokka is very close to Toph, Toph is slightly harsh on Sokka, but likes him as he is funny, and is also a good friend who would fight alongside Toph like a loyal friend. There is a suggestion that there is a relationship between Toph and Sokka that is personal.

Toph likes Zuko's element of mystery, and knows that Zuko is a good guy, she likes to spend time with him, and almost envies the way Zuko's uncle loves zuko. They become good friends.

Powers

Toph is an earthbender:

Toph can manipulate earth.

She can feel vibrations through the ground with her feet. This allows her to "see", similar to echolocation.Thanks to this she can also tell where people are, even if they're otherwise hidden.She can even feel heartbeats. Using this she can tell if someone is lying.

Toph can also manipulate and bend metal, she is the first earthbender to use this ability.

Other Media

Video Games

Toph is a playable character in the Avatar video games Avatar: The Burning Earth and Avatar: Into the Inferno. Her powers in the game are limited to simple earthbending as opposed to sensory skills or metalbending as her role is to create platforms to extend over chasms and dangerous areas.

The Promise

A year after the war has ended, Zuko and Aang are going through the Harmony Restoration Movement as Toph has opened the first Bei Fong Metalbending Academy. With her first three students going through a similar gauntlet as to what she put Aang through, she is delighted to see Katara, Sokka, and Aang as she helps to control the crowd when they begin to attack Sokka. She wonders what will happen since Zuko renounced the Movement and is calling for a summit with Earth King Kuei.

The Legend of Korra

Seventy years after the war, Aang has died and a new Avatar, Korra, has been chosen. By the time Korra leaves to learn airbending, Toph has already passed away but not before teaching metalbending to hundreds of soldiers and forming the elite police squadron for Republic City, leaving her daughter Lin Bei Fong in charge. During several fights, Korra has had flashbacks of her previous life with Toph in them. The first is her standing with her troops and in the next, she is seen arguing with an adult Aang about something.